THE ORIGIN OF THE WORK OF ART
The artwork opens up, in its own way, the being of beings. This opening up, i.e., unconcealing, i.e., the truth of beings, happens in the work. In the artwork, the truth of beings has set itself to the work. Art is the setting-itself-to-work of truth. What is truth itself, that it happens,a at times, as art? What is this setting-itself-to-work?
THE WORK AND TRUTH
The origin of the artwork is art. But what is art? Art is real in the artwork. That is the reason we look, first of all, for the reality of the work. In what does it consist? Thingliness is exhibited by artworks universally, albeit in very different ways. The attempt to comprehend the thingly-character of the work via the usual concepts of the thing failed. It failed not only because these concepts of the thing failed to grasp the thingly, but also because, by asking about the work's thingly substructure, we forced it into a preconceived framework which obstructs access to the work-being of the work. Nothing can be discovered about the thingly aspect of the work until the pure standing-in-itself of the work has clearly shown itself.
But is the work in itself ever accessible? In order for this to happen it would be necessary to remove the work from all relation to anything other than itself in order to let it stand on its own and for itself alone. But that is already the innermost intention of the artist. Through him, the work is to be released into its purest standing-in-itself. Precisely in great art (which is all we are concerned with here) the artist remains something inconsequential in comparison with the work – almost like a passageway which, in the creative process, destroys itself for the sake of the coming forth of the work.
Well, then, the works themselves are located and hang in collections and exhibitions. But are they themselves, in this context, are they the works they are, or are they, rather, objects of the art business? The works are made available for the public and private enjoyment of art. Official agencies assume responsibility for the care and maintenance of the works. Art connoisseurs and critics busy themselves with them. The art dealer looks after the market. The art-historical researcher turns the works into the objects of a science. But in all this many-sided activity do we ever encounter the work itself?
The "Aegina" sculptures in the Munich collection and Sophocles' Antigone in the best critical edition are, as the works they are, torn out of
a Reclam edition, 1900. "Truth from out of the Event.
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